Truss-pad.



No. 760,253. PATENTED MAY 17, 1904,

v0. C. ROSS.

TRUSS PAD.

APPLIOATION FILED Nov. 1a. 1903.

N0 MODEL.

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Patented May 17, 1904.

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

OLIVER C. ROSS, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

TRUSS-PAD.

SPECIFICATON, forming part of Letters Patent No. 760,253, dated May 17, 1904` i Application filed November 13, 1903. Serial No. 181,030. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known. that I, OLIVER C. Ross, acitizen of the United States, anda resident of Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented a new and Improved Truss-Pad, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to pads for trusses employedto reduce and cure hernia, and has for its object to provide novel features of construction for a truss-pad which adapt it to contract the edges of the ruptured wall of the groin or abdomen and so reduce the hernia that it will heal or unite at the edges, a further object being to adapt the pad in pairs for effectually compressing and supporting two ruptures that may be located high or low and either in the groin or other portion of the abf dominal wall.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, as is hereinafter described, and defined in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indi cate corresponding' parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the improved truss-pad in duplicate supported for service on a body-band indicated by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the improved truss-pad, showing the novel details thereof and means for adjustably connecting the improvement with an end of a body-band. Fig. 3 is an opposite side view of an adjustable pad 'connection which may be employed. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional viewsubstantially on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view substantially on the line 5 5 in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a side view of the truss-pad, showing the bulb thereon arranged in one position for service as a left hand pad; and Fig. 7'is a side view of the improved truss-pad adapted to contact with a rupture on the right-hand side of the abdominal wall and showingadifferent arrangement of the bulb for contact with a rupture.

The improved truss-pad may be used either singly or in duplicate for the reduction and support of a single `or double hernia. Pref- Vabdominal wall or groin of the wearer.

.ner of its outer edge.

erably two pads are employed of substantially similar construction, the only change being such as is necessary to adapt the pad to have proper contact with a respective side of the Each truss-pad comprises a base-block 10, preferably formed of light strong wood having proper area and kidney-shaped in contour, and

to adapt said blocks for use they are curved oppositely, so that the convex edge of each block will be opposed to the like edge on the other block, as is indicated in Figs. 1, 6, and 7.

The base-block lO of each truss-pad elnployed is Hat on the side that is toward the person of the wearer when applied and may be slightly convexed on the opposite or outer side and reduced in hulkby rounding the cor- A` fiat facing-piece 11, of slightly-yielding material, is provided for the base-block 10, consisting, preferably, of thick felt fabric formed of fine wool, shaped edgewise to conform with the contour lof the block 10 and secured on the flat surface thereof by any suitable means, thus producing a slightly elastic covering for the block that cX- tends throughout the area ofthe block. A slightly-yielding projection is furnished for contact with arupture and for convenience may be termed the pad-bulb. The padbulb comprises two preferably circular layers facingpiece and into the base-block 10. The

insertion of "the-screw 14 and its proper adjustmentserves to depress the centers of the two slightly-yielding layers composing the pad-bulb, owing to the enforced contact of thescrew-head 14n with the outer layer 12, and in the concavity thus produced a plurality of bulbous projections a' are formedby pressure of the screw-head on the slightly-yieldin g layers 12 13, that form the mul-bulb.`

It will be noticed that the concave pad-bulb may be altered in position on the facing-piece 11 so as to locateit near the longitudinal center thereofl or near each end'of the Ykidneyshaped pad-block 10, as the screw 14 may be readily removed and again screwed therein at a desired point.

A body-band A, (indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1,) that may with advantage be of resilient metal, is employed to support the improved truss-pad in duplicate at the ends thereof for application upon the person, and while other means may be used to lconnect the padblocks 10 with the bared ends of the body-i band the well-known device shown 1s employed and consists of the following details: An arm 15 of suitable length and formed of metal is secured longitudinally upon the normal outer side of the base-block 10 by the screws b, so as to extend beyond the widest end of the base-block a suitable distance. A circularly-edged enlargement 15a is formed on the outwardly-extended end of the arm 15, and said enlargement has lapped engagement with a similar flat enlargement 16a on one end of a joint-plate 16, that is secured upon one end of the metal body-band A, and these laterally-contacting disk-like portions of the jointplate and arm are'pivoted together centrally by the screw c, that Apasses through and has threaded engagement within a tappedperforation therein, as is clearly shown in Fig. 4. A plurality of spaced perforations Z Vare formed in the joint-plate portion 16a and are arranged concentric with the screw c andare equally spaced apart. A detent-pin e projects from the plate 15a in the path of the circular row of spaced perforations CZ, andv said pin may be engaged within either perforation, and it will be seen that by a turning adjustment of the parts 15 16a, so as to enter the pin @within a suitable perforation 6l, the arm 15 and trusspad thereon willbe disposed at a proper angle with regard to the body-band A for the location of the pad-bulb over a rupture. l

The smaller ends of the pad-blocks 10, which maybe designated their tip ends and that project toward each other at an angle, are in service connected together by means ofthe strap 17, having spaced holes ftherein, one end of the strap being secured upon the outer surface of a base-block 10 at its tip end, as shown at g, and maybe drawn taut from the engaged base-block after the truss having the duplicate pads is mounted upon the person of the wearer, the extended end portion of the strap being attached upon a stud or like projection 7L on the outer surface of the tip end of the duplicate base-block 1() and may be engaged with anyone of the holes f. In case the rupture to be engaged by the truss-pad is at a point that will require a change in position'of the pad-bulb on the base-block 10 so as to locate said bulb directly over the rupture this may be readily elfected bythe removal of the screw 14 and its replacementin engagement'with the base-block 10 and the facing 11 .thereon at a suitable point.

As shown in Fig. 6, the base-block 10 may have alateral swell 10 formed on the same at the convex edge, so as to widen the block and permit a lateral corresponding adjustment of the pad-bulb to properly locate said bulb on the base-block for pressure on a rupture.

1t will be noticed that as the pad-bulb on each truss-pad is more or less removed from the tip end of the truss-pad thetaut adjustment of the strap 17, that connects said ends of the trusspads, has a tendency to clamp the pad-bulbs upon the person and produce assured pressure of the bearing-surfaces of the pad-bulbs upon the rupture over which an appropriate bulb is positioned, this being likewise the case if there are tWo ruptures to be reduced by respective pads, it being understood that said pads are each arranged for location over an adjacent rupture. Obviously the draft strain of the strap 17 and the leverage afforded by connecting the same at the tip ends of the base-blocks while the pad-bulbs are moreor less removed from said tip ends will'alord proper pressure for the concaved bulbs upon the edges of the ruptures and draw said edges together or toward the center of the concavity of each pad. As the concavedbulbs on the pads may, ifa double rupture is to be treated, be shifted into proper position on the base-blocks and the leverage be reduced as the bulbs are brought nearer to the tip ends of the base-blocks 10, it will be evident that more or less pressure may be given to the pad-bulbs over the rupture, so as to contract the torn edges of the same and hold them, so as to permit them to unite and heal the torn tissue. e

ln case there is but a single rupture the bulb-sections 12 13 maybe removed from the base-block of the pad that is to have contact with the body where there is no rupture and the Hat facing 11 be placed in contact with the abdomen, and las the facing is yielding and soft it will be apparent Vthat the facing will conform with the contour of the person whereon it is imposedand serve to hold the pad in place without causing any discomfort.

In case it is preferred the pad-bulbs that` have been described as formed of two disksof felt or like pliable material may be cut from a single sheet of fabric having proper thickness, as the use of two disks is not obligatory, but has been adopted for convenience in manufacture, and I claim the concaved slightlyyielding pad-bulb without limit as to the number 'of layers composing it.

It is a very important feature of the'invention that the pad-bulb on each pad is composed entirely of a slightly-yielding fabric, as this slightly resilient bulb, having a concaved bearing-surface, grips together without discom- IOO IIO..

fort the fleshy tissue of the torn edges of a rupture and converges said edges in a positive manner, the slight bulbous formations a in the concavity of the bulb acting as a persons lingers for the convergence of the edge of the hernia.

The provision of the slightlyyiel ;ling facing-piece l1 for each pad is very advantageous, as the extensive area of the facing distributes pressure of the pad when the bulb is removed over a suiiicient surface of the body to prevent discomfort that results from Wearing other pads or the constriction of the bodyband when but one pad is furnished to a truss.

Among the marked features of my trusspad are the connection at the tip or lower ends of the base-blocks whereby a leverage pressure is maintained and `regulated by the strap attachment, the construction of a compress of felt or other slightly-yielding material, and thc ability to adjust the compress ou the baseblocl; laterally or transversely.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. A truss-pad, comprising an oblong basc- 4block of rigid material having a Hat side, a

slightly-yielding flat facing of fibrous material. secured onsaid flat side, a pad-bulb of slightly-yielding material seated at a selected but changeable point on the slightly-yielding facing, and a screw having a suitable head, and screwed through the pad-bulb and facing into the base-block so as to compress the padbulb and give it proper form.

2. A truss-pad comprising a lridney-shaped base-block fiat on one side, a felt facing-piece secured on said fiat side, a pad-bulb formed of disks of felt fabric, and a screw having a head that compresses the disks of felt, to give their side surfaces concavity when the screw is inserted into the base-block through the centers of said felt disks.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

OLIVER C. ROSS.

Witnesses CHARLES W. CLARKE, W. P. GILBERT. 

